REPORTER: Times Square. It's just one big party. Yes, we're only seconds away as the ball comes down on the last year of the twentieth century. It's hard to imagine a crazier scene than this one. Look out for next year. Can you believe it, folks. We're wrapping up to the big one.

Daniel goes out the front door and locks it. As he turns, a man appears.

MAN: Hey.

He tazers Daniel.

Indoors, the kettle is on the stove and Jeannie is wiping a mug as the radio continues.

RADIO REPORTER: The independent atomic fail-safe commission yesterday reported that six of ten Siberian nuclear installations had not ...

Outside, two men drag Daniel's unconscious body away from the front door.

RADIO REPORTER: Hotel owners on the Mount of Olives find themselves with a Y2K problem they didn't expect. Too many customers. Shop owner Yorin Boaz is making plans ..

Jeannie lights the gas under the kettle, then changes the radio channel to music - "Having My Baby" by Paul Anka.

Outside, the men are going through Daniel's pockets. They find his keys.

Inside, Jeannie opens a cupboard and takes down two packs of tea, deciding which one she wants. She drops one on the floor. She hears the key in the front door and listens, then with difficulty bends to pick up the box of tea. The front door is carefully opened. The kettle begins to whistle. There's the sound of a door closing. Jeannie stands up as the kettle's whistle blows, and sees two men in ski masks enter the kitchen. Jeannie's scream matches the kettle's whistle. A pad is placed over Jeannie's mouth and nose and she loses consciousness.

fade to black

Day. Outside the Borenstine's house. Yellow police tape. Frank arrives. He goes to the front door, looking at the door frame where something has been removed. Inside, Hollis talking to Daniel while crime-scene officers work.

HOLLIS: We're setting up a way to monitor a ransom call, if one comes in.

DANIEL: Oh, this is terrible.

HOLLIS: We're doing everything we can. she sees Frank Can you excuse me a minute?

She walks over to Frank by the front door.

HOLLIS: This is a pro job, Frank. They made it in and out of here without a sound.

FRANK: Point of entry?

HOLLIS: Front door. Knocked the husband out, took his key. She was in the kitchen.

FRANK: Did the husband set it up?

HOLLIS: We'll run all the usual, but my gut says no.

FRANK: What else?

HOLLIS: He's a doctor, runs a cardiac unit at Cedars. The employees all seem happy as clams. His office nurse, Rachel Levinson, left a month ago but on good terms. She was moving out of the country. I'm checking it out.

Frank indicates the door frame.

FRANK: Can I get somebody to dust this?

OFFICER: Mm mm.

The officer dabs dusting powder on the door frame as Frank explains.

FRANK: They've removed the mezuzah. There are prayers from the Torah inside, keep everyone from harm.

Hollis' cell phone rings.

HOLLIS: Agent Hollis.

OFFICER: I'll be darned.

FRANK: No print?

OFFICER: A print with no print.

There's a shape of a fingerprint, but the pattern is mesh-like, rather than the normal whorls and loops.

HOLLIS: OK. to Frank Borenstine's nurse Rachel, the one who said she was leaving the country?

FRANK: Mm mm.

HOLLIS: She never left.

Elsewhere. Someone unlocks a front door. The door frame has a carved face on it. Two masked men carry a stretcher on which Jeannie is lying, her hands and eyes bound. They enter the house. A man speaks in Hebrew as he hammers an object into the door frame - it's the mezuzah from the Borenstine's house.

JEANNIE: Where are you taking me?

Inside. A room like a temple with columns and arches. In the center is a pool with steps down. The two men bring in the stretcher and lower it on the floor. They pull Jeannie to her feet and move her onto a chair in front of two people - a man dressed in vestments with symbols of intertwined ouroboros, the slaying of a calf, a sword. A woman standing by him is wearing a white robe with the same symbols and whose head and face is covered with a long white veil.

JEANNIE: If you want money, we have money. Just tell me what you want.

The woman moves to sit next to Jeannie.

JEANNIE: Where am I? Please. Please, please speak to me. Please.

The woman takes a stethoscope from a bag and listens to the baby's heartbeat.

JEANNIE: What are you doing? What are you doing!

The Priest speaks in Hebrew.

JEANNIE: What are you saying? Please, please, please tell me if you understand me. Please. Please help me.

The woman takes out a hypodermic syringe.

WOMAN: Quiet.

The woman signals to the Priest who leaves accompanied by the masked men.

The woman injects Jeannie, who begins to feel sleepy. On the altar are several bowls marked with symbols as on the vestments, including double interlinked ouroboroses. Jeannie falls unconscious.

Rachel Levinson's ResidenceBrooklyn, New York

Inside. A workroom/study. Frank and Hollis are searching the shelves. Frank holds up a book.

FRANK: She may never have left the country but she intended to.

HOLLIS quoting: "A Guide for Moving to the Holy Land". She wanted to emigrate to Israel.

FRANK: She never left. The books aren't even dusty.

They continue to search. Frank pulls plastic sheeting off a lump of clay on a small table. He picks up a stick and prods the clay.

FRANK: It's fresh.

Hollis points to the edge of the table. There's a fingerprint on the edge.

HOLLIS: Wait, Frank, look at this. The print you found at the house.

FRANK: It's smaller. She's part of it.

Frank sees part of a broken bowl with symbols on it lying on the floor. He picks it up and hands it to Hollis.

HOLLIS: The Millennium Group.

FRANK: It's an ancient symbol. Nobody owns it.

The bowl has intertwined ouroboros symbols and others - it appears to be the same as in the temple.

The temple now has many lit candles. Two people carry the unconscious Jeannie down into the pool. She is now dressed in a white robe. The Priest chants in Hebrew.

JEANNIE: The baby.

WOMAN: Relax. It's good for the baby.

The woman speaks in Hebrew. One of the men standing by the Priest responds. There is a brief conversation between the man and the priest.

WOMAN: Push now. Push!

Jeannie cries out, as the priest continues to chant.

WOMAN: Push.

Jeannie cries out again.

WOMAN: He's coming.

Blood appears in the water. The woman cuts the umbilical cord then lifts up the baby. Jeannie reaches out for the baby but the woman carries him away. The priest dips a bowl into the pool, then pours the water over the baby's head.

The fragment of bowl is on Frank's desk as he uses the computer to search on: sacred ceremonial patterns 40 BCE - 70 BCE. Various images appears on screen. Hollis enters the office and sits next to Frank.

FRANK: All the iconography is pre-Christian. Look, this pattern, the bleeding sword, right there, he points to the bowl indicates the first temple. It was built on Temple Mount by King Solomon a thousand years BC. There was a second temple after that. The sacrificial scene dates back to the second temple, this one.

He points to another symbol on the bowl.

FRANK: The Romans destroyed the temple when they sacked Jerusalem. Fanatics want to rebuild the third temple on the same spot.

HOLLIS: I thought there are mosques there now.

FRANK: There are. For thirteen hundred years.

HOLLIS: But they can't tear down the mosques, not without starting a war.

FRANK: According to biblical prophecy, once the temple is rebuilt then the messiah will come.

Frank loads up more images, then points to one - two intersecting ouroboroses.

FRANK: Look at that.

HOLLIS quoting: "The circle will be complete, the world can end". It sounds like the Group to me.

Jeannie is lying on a bed. The veiled woman is standing nearby. Jeannie is very drowsy.

JEANNIE: Do you speak English? Do you understand me? What did you do with my baby.

WOMAN: He's fine. He is.

JEANNIE: Wait. I know your voice. Please, if you have any kindness, please give me my son. I'll never tell.

The priest comes into the room.

JEANNIE: You. What are you doing with my baby?

The priest speaks in Hebrew and the woman replies.

JEANNIE: Where is my baby!! Where is my baby!!!

The woman pushes Jeannie back onto the bed. The priest shouts then leaves, slamming the door. The woman gets her bag and prepares to inject Jeannie.

She looks around the room, then searches the wardrobe again. Then she puts on a coat and hurries out.

FBI office. Hollis knocks on the open door. Frank is working on a computer.

FRANK: Hi.

HOLLIS: Hi. I've been trying to trace the mineral water on Jeannie's robe.

FRANK: Any luck?

HOLLIS: Not on there, but I did find something else. The fingerprint pattern? It's artificial skin. Developed in Israel for burn victims. The kidnappers graft it on and - no more fingerprints ever.

FRANK: Good. It fits.

The computer screen shows images of people, some with guns.

FRANK: The leaders of this temple are all radical activists. They feel like they're running out of time.

HOLLIS: You think it's one of them?

FRANK: Well, they've never done anything like this before.

HOLLIS: Wait, wait, stop. Can you - on the shoulder there, can you enlarge that?

A photograph of a group of men dressed in combat gear, carrying guns. One has an armband showing the intertwined ouroboroses plus two other insignia. Hollis compares these with three printouts of images from Frank's previous search.

HOLLIS: All three.

Frank clicks on the image which brings up the report it appeared in.

FRANK: Moses Gourevitch, born in New York. Hero of the Six Day War. Involvement in the Temple movement for thirty years.

HOLLIS: I'll show them to Jeannie. So, what have we got. Temple, skin...

FRANK: Cohen. Cohen. The people of ancient Israel were divided into tribes. The Cohens were traditional priests. Jean Borenstine's maiden name was Cohen. That's why they want her baby.

HOLLIS: They want him to be a priest?

FRANK: To serve in the temple. To welcome the messiah.

Rachel is running down some stairs. Somewhere else a door opens. Rachel stops to check behind her, then runs on. She reaches a dilapidated basement, water dripping, and carefully checks around her. She runs on to an outside door, opens it and runs off. Gourevitch watches her leave.

McCLAREN: The Six Day War. The Israelis captured Jerusalem but Dayan didn't want to take the Temple Mount. He knew it would be a political disaster. He gave control of the mosques back to the Arabs. Now, a lot of people were disappointed, but some went off the deep end. Your friend, Gourevitch, he got caught planting explosives around those mosques five years ago.

The video screen shows a young Moses Gourevitch.

HOLLIS: Look at him. He's been living with that betrayal for thirty years. He's finally taking action. I still don't get exactly how the Millennium Group fits in.

Frank explains to McClaren.

FRANK: Watts was at the hospital.

HOLLIS: We know they're involved. Their prints are all over the place. This whole case is shaping up to be about the End Times. We'd be blind not to see it.

McCLAREN: Uh, Agent Hollis, could you just give us a moment, please.

Hollis looks at Frank who doesn't respond. She leaves, not happy.

McCLAREN: You think the Group is behind this?

FRANK: Watts has been around, but I don't know why.

McCLAREN: I want this baby returned to his parents alive, that's all. People are watching, Frank.

FRANK: What does that mean?

McCLAREN: They're watching Hollis. I brought her in here because she was first in her class at Quantico. She's got an IQ over the moon. This Group stuff - I can't protect her for ever. Don't let her ruin her career.

Outside, Hollis is waiting. Frank exits McClaren's office.

HOLLIS: Wait a minute. Something just happened in there, don't pretend it didn't. You hung me out to dry.

FRANK: You were wrong.

HOLLIS: Why? Do you know something I don't?

FRANK: I'm saying the Group is not always what it seems to be. That right now you're not seeing clearly what they're doing. It is better to wait than to generalize.

HOLLIS: Sometimes waiting costs lives.

FRANK: Other times it saves them.

Busy street. Day. Rachel exits a subway. Across the street is the FBI office. As she walks towards it, a rack of clothing is wheeled in front of her. A man grabs her and puts his hand over her mouth. He and a colleague maneuver the clothes rack and Rachel away and into a van.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

Hospital. Jeannie's room.

FRANK: Your maiden name is Cohen.

Jeannie nods.

DANIEL: Why does that matter?

HOLLIS: It could matter a great deal. Jeannie, your maternal grandfather was Chief Rabbi of Philadelphia in 1932. He was both a Cohen and a Levite, another priestly tribe. Daniel, your grandfather was also a Cohen. Your family's been involved in the rabbinate as far back as we can find records.

FRANK: Their plan is to raise your son as priest in the Third Temple.

DANIEL: But there is no Third Temple.

FRANK: Well, they believe there will be one soon.

JEANNIE: But what will they do with him now? He's just a little baby.

FRANK: They need him now, to raise him unpolluted. They have to be very careful to keep it that way.

JEANNIE: What I went through - the birth in water?

FRANK: The earth holds the dead, which would pollute him. They can't allow him to touch the ground.

DANIEL: Wait a minute. If he touches the ground, what would they do?

FRANK: I believe he's safe right now. They're going to want to move him, out of the country if possible. So if you can remember anything, even the smallest detail, that would help. You say they were speaking Hebrew.

JEANNIE: Yes. But I don't know any Hebrew. Just once in a while, there would be words, you know, words that were in English. Somebody said "sandwich". This is ridiculous.

FRANK: No, that's good. What else?

JEANNIE: Um. I don't know. Mirror - I think they said that, or myrrh. I don't know, I couldn't get it. Um. Subway.

FRANK: Any particular subway line?

JEANNIE: No. Look, I could have just dreamed half of this.

FRANK: That doesn't necessarily make it untrue. pause What is your son's name?

JEANNIE: Max.

FRANK: We'll find Max.

Night. Thunder.

Mt. Moriah ParkBrooklyn, New York

Rachel is standing, wearing a dark robe. A pile of stones on the ground nearby.

RACHEL: The messiah is coming. We must prepare for him. I would never subvert that plan.

Facing Rachel is Gourevitch and four of his men.

GOUREVITCH: You were the only one among us who could have helped the woman escape. You dressed her in your vestments. You wanted them to find us.

RACHEL: You're wrong.

GOUREVITCH: Woman - betrayer - from the time of Eve.

A man puts a hood over Rachel's head. The men pick up stones. One is thrown and hits Rachel on the head. She falls to the ground.

Frank is researching on a computer. He enters the search word 'sandwich'. The words Jeanne recalled are written on a notepad and he crosses out "sandwich". Then he adds 'New York City and surrounding boroughs' to the computer search. The result is 300 entries. He crosses out 'mirror' and adds that to the search. This gives 100 entries. He scrolls down the list and sees 'Sandwich Bar - Mirror Meadow, Mt. Moriah Park'.

Vision: Rachel's bloody face, the bloody sword symbol on Gourevitch's robe, a calf hanging upside down, blood pouring from a bowl. The vision is accompanied by chanting in Hebrew.

In Mt. Moriah park, the men walk around Rachel's body, continuing to throw stones, as Gourevitch watches.

Hollis working in the briefing room. She looks at the three symbols pinned on the board. Peter Watts enters the room.

HOLLIS: What do you want?

WATTS: I know you have a skewed picture of us and what we do, Agent Hollis. I'd like to fix it.

HOLLIS: Tell me where to find Gourevitch.

WATTS: He used to be an ally of ours. No longer.

HOLLIS: Well, that's not what I asked. Where is the baby? Or doesn't his life matter?

WATTS: We want to find that baby as much as you do. We're trying to prevent an apocalypse not start one. That's what Gourevitch intends. It's called forcing the end. Jewish groups believe that if they rebuild the temple, the messiah will come. Christian groups believe it's the anti-Christ but that Christ will come to refute him.

HOLLIS: Armageddon.

WATTS: The bible says it will happen. These people are trying to make it happen.

HOLLIS: By starting an all-out war in the Middle East. That could be the end.

WATTS: If you want to prevent these people from causing total chaos, you have to think like they do. See the signs they see.

HOLLIS: So, it's prophecy?

WATTS: It's Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation 4 verse 4.

Watts leaves.

Night. Frank and FBI agents searching Mt Moriah Park. They find Rachel's body lying surrounded by the stones. Her face is bloody and her eyes open. Frank kneels beside her and feels for a pulse.

Hollis is reading from Revelations.

HOLLIS: And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne there were four beasts full of eyes, before and behind.

She looks at a drawing of Christ wearing a robe. The robe has the same symbols as Gourevitch's. She grabs an evidence bag containing Rachel's vestment. It has the same symbols on it.

McCLAREN: The woman stoned to death in Mount Moriah Park is Rachel Levinson. Horrible way to die.

Hollis enters.

FRANK: It was a trial and an execution.

HOLLIS: She took Jeannie Borenstine home. Gourevitch killed her for that. The robe Jeannie had on when she was found is a ceremonial vestment. Hair sample showed it belonged to Rachel. That robe was made at Rothman's vestments in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. she puts a pin in a map I tracked it down. An analysis of the mineral water found on Jeannie Borenstine yielded nothing local, but then I found out about a hot spring that ran underground here. she puts in another pin It's supposed to have dried up fifty years ago but this is a capped site that may be what we want. It's an old Russian bath house. Closed in 1948. The building itself was condemned twenty years ago but the city never tore it down. And the old bath house triangulates exactly with the vestment company and the Mount Moriah Park.

FRANK: Gourevitch will have reconfigured the building to mimic the layout of the temple as much as he could.

HOLLIS: So the baby will be on an upper floor.

FRANK: As far off the ground as possible.

HOLLIS: With the murder out of the way, Gourevitch will be clearing out.

McCLAREN: All right. Let's go get them. Good work, Hollis.

Hollis goes to leave.

FRANK: Peter Watts contacted you. What did he want?

HOLLIS: To help me get the baby back. I couldn't turn the information down.

FRANK: You accept their help, you'll pay a price.

HOLLIS: If I hadn't accepted, the price would have been higher.

Night. Bolt cutters snap a chain on a fence. FBI agents enter accompanied by Frank, Hollis and McClaren. They go up to the front door. Frank notices the mezuzah nailed to the front door.

FRANK: Knock it down.

Frank and an agent kick in the door. Frank leads the search up dilapidated stairs. They find the temple. An agent is already there, having apprehended one man. Another man appears behind them and shouts. Frank and Hollis chase after him, going in separate directions. Hollis goes into a corridor. She hears a baby cry. She follows the sound through the dilapidated building and upstairs. She enters a room - many candles and the baby in the cradle. Hollis walks over to the baby and reaches out. Then a gun is placed at her head.

GOUREVITCH: If you touch him, I'll kill you. Step away.

He grabs her gun. Hollis moves away. Gourevitch picks up the baby.

GOUREVITCH: Let's go.

HOLLIS: Where are we going?

GOUREVITCH: Sh!

HOLLIS: Please. Give me the baby.

GOUREVITCH: Come on! Let's go!

She opens the door that Gourevitch has indicated. There is another flight of stairs. Above the sound of thunder can be heard a helicopter. Hollis and Gourevitch climb the stairs.

GOUREVITCH: To the right!

They emerge onto a small area of roof. A helicopter is flying around the building. Gourevitch waves to the pilot.

GOUREVITCH: Closer!

The helicopter moves closer, then backs away.

HOLLIS: He can't land! There's nowhere to land!

GOUREVITCH: Put it down!

The pilot tries again.

Below, Frank and the agents exit the building.

GOUREVITCH: Bring it down! Bring it down!

HOLLIS: Give me the baby. For god's sake, give me the baby! Please, give me the baby! He's not going to make it.

The pilot is still trying to get close.

HOLLIS: Please, let me have him.

The helicopter moves away.

HOLLIS: Hold it! It can't work. Just give me the baby, please.

The helicopter comes back for yet another attempt. Below, Frank and McClaren and others can only watch.

Gourevitch slips over the edge onto a sloping part of the roof. Hollis throws herself forward and grabs hold of his arm. The helicopter finally leaves. Rain is splattering on the roof. Gourevitch is holding on with one hand to the edge of the roof.

HOLLIS: Please, please. Give me the baby.

Gourevitch kisses the baby, then hands him to Hollis. Gourevitch slips and falls to the ground. Hollis hugs the baby, then looks down. Gourevitch is impaled on a scaffolding pole. Hollis looks around her.

HOLLIS VO: And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of god.

Three searchlights and headlights of two police cars.

HOLLIS VO: And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal.

Nearby skyscrapers' windows.

HOLLIS VO: And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Carvings of beasts on the door frame.

Hollis puts her hand on the wet roof and then smears the mud onto the baby's face.

Later. Jeannie, Daniel and the baby in Jeannie's hospital room.

JEANNIE: Look at his lovely little face.

Hollis smiles and turns to go.

JEANNIE to Hollis: Thank you.

Hollis walks out into the corridor where Frank is waiting.

HOLLIS: Everything Peter Watts said came true. The throne, the beasts, the sea of glass. If there is that kind of knowledge in the world, how can I not pay attention?

FRANK: I can't tell you what to do. But I do know one thing - that nobody owns God or the truth. If Peter Watts knew how the prophecy would reveal itself, he knew where the baby was.

HOLLIS: And he made sure we'd find him.

FRANK: He made sure Gourevitch wouldn't force the end. If the end comes, the Group wants to be in control of it. The individual in this case doesn't matter. Who sent her home in the robe that condemned Rachel Levinson to death?

HOLLIS thinks: Watts.

FRANK: Why didn't he send the baby home too?

HOLLIS: The baby was in another room under guard? Maybe, maybe, it all had to work itself out in a certain way.